Leading Off: Will Brown, Rogers give Raiders a boost?

If you’re not a winning team, you should add players who are used to winning, right?

Winning begets winning?

The Raiders and their fans sure hope so.

The Raiders allowed 255.8 passing yards per game, 28th in the NFL, and 33 passing touchdowns during last season’s 4-12 debacle. The 49ers allowed 221 passing yards per game, seventh-best, and just 19 passing touchdowns as they went 12-4.

After signing Carlos Rogers on Monday, it’s possible the Raiders will open the season with Rogers and Tarell Brown – signed last month – as their starting cornerbacks.

Rogers started all 48 games for the 49ers the past three seasons, and Brown started 42, missing six last season because of injury. During those three years, the 49ers were 36-11-1 in regular-season games and went to the NFC title game, the Super Bowl and the NFC title game. Both played key roles in that success.

During the same period, the Raiders were 16-32, including four-victory seasons in 2012 and 2013. They need to change their culture of losing, and that starts by bringing in proven winners such as Rogers and Brown.

Both left the 49ers because of salary issues, but would the 49ers have let them go if they thought they still had their best seasons ahead of them? Was this another case of the 49ers cutting loose players just before they begin to decline?

Rogers, 32, has played nine seasons, and Brown, 29, is entering his eighth season.

Raiders fans hope both have a few more solid years.

– Tom Couzens

tcouzens@sacbee.com

Today’s poll

Will Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown givethe Raiders a boost?

• Yes, they’re both proven winners.
• Maybe, but it’s far too early to know.
• No, their best seasons are behind them.